My Story
How I Got Here
The Early Days: Wall Street & The Car Lot
I guess we can start the story all the way back in 2010 when i graduated from Penn State University with a bachelors in Economics. The US was still in the height of the Great Recession and I was one of the lucky few to have a job lined up on Wall Street in NYC before I graduated. I was a licensed Financial Advisor holding a FINRA Series 6, 63, & 65.
However, it wasn't long until I realized I HATED what I was doing. The long grind into NYC (I refused to move from NJ), the long hours of trying to work the phones during the day and then try to work EVERY networking event at night, and combined with the fact that I didn't really know what I was doing got to me. After just 6 months, I pulled the plug on Wall Street and sought different employment...
Since it was a recession, the only jobs hiring were either sales positions or positions that paid $30k a year. I begrudgingly went the sales route, but in an industry I understood, cars. For the next 6 years, I would work as a sales rep, finance manager, and internet manager (with some success) at 2 different stores before spreading my wings...
Meet The Entrepreneur: Uber Rental Cars
In February of 2017, I was having an awful run of months in the car business and honestly, was probably on the verge of getting fired. I wasn't selling much and was making almost no money. Barely enough to cover my bills despite working 60 hours a week. I googled how to make money on the side and I saw a google ad about renting your car out to Uber drivers to make money on the side.
The idea of having a car (or 6) out on the road earning money while I was stuck in the dealership was VERY appealing. I bought my first car in Feb 2017. By May 2017, I had 6 and was making enough that I was able to give my final notice to the car business in June of 2017. I was officially an entrepreneur now...
Because I got "bored" on the days where the cars were rented out, I started to dabble in affiliate marketing and learning how to advertise on the internet. Partly because I wanted to grow my own business, but also because it seemed fun...
2019/2020: Where It All Came Down
However, my "boring days" didn't last long. As the rental fleet grew past 10, there was a fire to put out every single day. I wasn't making any money online (turns out it's HARD) so I put all my time in the rental business. However, it was a sinking ship...
By mid 2019, I was bringing in $14,000 a month, but I had almost $12,000 a month in expenses due to various issues. Renters banged up the cars, walked on insurance deductibles, and my insurance premium was raised 3 times. I was watching my profit disappear each day and soon I would be losing money everyday.
Did I also mention that I now had a 1-year-old to support with a wife who worked and no way to pay for daycare?
I decided to liquidate it all and by January 2020 I was out of the car business all together. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
2020 Part 2: It Clicks
March 2020. I have a little over $15,000 left to live on and support a family (wife's job can't support us alone) and no backup plan. The world is changing rapidly and we're all stuck at home for what might be an eternity. Since we're not going anywhere and we're all on getting on TikTok to watch Tiger King, I decide to start recording videos and tell people about my business background and how I'm learning to adapt online.
Turns out, people REALLY wanted to hear what I had to say. I grew to 100k followers in 2020 and became a content creator like so many others. The money started flowing back in again from programs I was promoting as an affiliate.
2021: $1 Million in 100 Days
I was making so much noise that I caught the attention of a well known influencer, Adrian Brambila and he chose ME to partner with and help launch his flagship program, The Brambila Method. His expertise along with some viral promotional strategies that I put together created such a buzz online that we had people banging down the doors to get in.
In June 2021 we launched the Brambila Method to the world. 100 days later, it crossed $1 Million in sales. I guess you could say it put me on the map.
2022: The Year of Retail Influence
But I didn't stop there. In early 2022, The Digital Marketing Misfits formed and started a podcast. We started the podcast because we had a group chat that was regularly filled with gold.
Well in May of 2022 Jamar dropped a gold nugget and said that we needed to try this crazy Amazon thing he was doing that was generating $5 a day passively. Well, I thought "what the hell" and turned it up to 11.
After realizing what we had, The Misfits came together and launched Anonymous Influencer to the world. But I would soon get a lesson in 2023 when that offer had run its course...
2023: SaaS Gold With HighLevel
2023 started off ROUGH. Our Facebook ads account got hacked and Anonymous Influencer crashed and burned. We went from $60,000 months to $5,000 months in about 60 days. It was at this point that I learned the lesson of recurring revenue and serving small business.
Since launching Lead Vortex and pivoting my focus to small business instead of business opportunities, I've been able to build a much more durable and sustainable business. We crossed 100 users in August of 2022 and Accepted SaaSPRENEUR Gold in October of 2023.
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